Making a Difference - Community Food and Health

• Single Outcome Agreements (SOAs) – joint commitment between Community Planning
Partnerships/Local Authorities and the Scottish Government to deliver an agreed set of
15 outcomes. A menu of 45 national indicators has been developed to track progress.
Locally developed indicators can be used alongside national indicators.
• Better Health, Better Care – an action plan setting out the Government's programme to
help people sustain and improve their health, especially in disadvantaged communities.
• Meeting the Shared Challenge Programme – to help public bodies and the community
and voluntary sector to work together on strategies and activities that support
communities to address health issues.
• Skills for Scotland – highlighting the value and wider benefits that learning can bring to
individuals, society, communities and the economy.
How do these make a difference locally
The West Lothian Food and Health Steering Group, supported by West Lothian
Community Healthcare Partnership and West Lothian Health Improvement Fund, works
with a range of partners to improve the nutritional status of the local population, particularly
focusing on health inequalities.
A local Food and Health Action Plan was developed in response to polices outlined above,
and priorities identified locally. The action plan particularly focuses on areas of deprivation
and addressing health inequalities. One of its key objectives is to improve skills,
confidence and knowledge in the preparation of healthier food. That is where the Get
Cooking project comes in. Participants in the project not only gained these food-related
skils through their involvement but also acquired wider abilities such as life skills,
numeracy and literacy, and employment opportunities. A ‘catering for health’ module has
also been developed to help local businesses look at healthier ways of catering which
supports their efforts in achieving national awards such as the healthyliving award.
Much of the workshop discussion focused on what ‘mainstreaming’ has meant to the
project
+ provided security for the project;
given Get Cooking the ability to plan ahead;
the opportunity to create longer term impact.
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less money - our resources are restricted to an annual budget;
tighter criteria of who Get Cooking can work with;
additional work in developing systems and paper work to bring project in line with
council procedures and policies.
The session was completed with a short exercise getting participants to work in the style of
‘speed dating’. In two circles (one circle within the other), participants had the opportunity
to present a problem to their opposite in the circle and receive advice or a solution back.